FLYING BICYCLES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIII, Issue XVIII, 3 August 1912, Page 10

FLYING BICYCLES.

AMUSING CONTEST IN PARIS

About 4000 people gathered at the 'arc dcs Princes, Paris, on the finrt Sunday in June to witness the first pubiic competition for motorless flying machines. The Priz Peugeot of £400 was offered to the first competitor who in a flying machine depending for its motive power on muscular energy alone should make the first flight of a decametre (about eleven yards) marked 011 the ground by two challced lines. Nearly 200 entries were received, but only about 25 inventors appeared with their machines, and none of them succeeded in winning the prize. Most of the "aviettes" were bicycles or tricycles fitted with wings and with a propeller in front or behind.

After running along the tracks for a few yards and charging the spectators, with disastrous'results to himself, No. G9 had to retire from the contest. When the inventor of No. 174 pulled his machine up by the handlebars, the wind caught the plane and he fell on his back with the machine on top of him. The unsympathetic spectators 1 aughed immoderately.

The competitor who caused the most ' amusement was a southern Frenchman, with fierce eyes, of the name of Vincent. His "aviette" consisted of two planes of equal dimensions, one behind the other. He sat on an antiquated and heavy bicycle underneath the wingSj with a propeller behind. Smoking a short black cigar, he was started off by his mechanic, and after running along the grass for a few yards*, turned with difficulty and came back.

Then he mado another attempt, but the bicycle chain suddenly flew off and the rider and the machine came down sideways. Then he determined to change the propeller. When it had been unscrewed he threw away his cigar, replaced it with a cigarette and went at it again. The result was the same, and 511 every fresh failure the spectators shouted "Bravo!" amd cheered him on.

THE FOUR INCH JUMP

M.Vincent was in dead earnest. Not a smile crossed his face. His eyes were starting out of his heaci, and when one of the stewards kindly suggested that S'e had done bravely and should take a rest the inventor brushed him rudely aside.

Finally, despairing of winning the more ambitious prize, he decided to tackle the smaller one, which consisted of flying over two strings less than four inches apart, but even this was too much for him. Time gain the machine rose on the rear wheel, much as a fiery steed does when it rears, a performance which the public greeted " ith loud laughter. But both wheels wei-o never off the ground at once, and the experiment always ended with M. V i<ieent and the machine falling over on one side, alter which he would ciawl out from among the wire and start again.

When the i competition closed M. Vincent was still vainly trying to get his machine to leap the four-inch obstacle.